The present disclosure relates generally to tip dressing of electrode tips of welding assemblies.
Welding assemblies used for resistance welding have electrode tips that are used for spot welding metal pieces together. The electrode tips become worn out or deformed over time and may accumulate debris build-up. When welding work is performed with worn-out electrode tips, weld quality is diminished. As such, electrode tips are periodically dressed at a tip dress unit to maintain welding quality at a tip dress unit. Conventional tip dress units have a cutter mounted in a holder, which is automatically or manually rotated to reform the electrode tips.
However, debris (e.g. sealer, oil, metal buildup on the electrode tips, and the like) clogging the tip dress units may negatively affect operation of the tip dress units. For example, the debris may clog the cutter causing the cutter to function improperly and/or not form the electrode tips properly. When the tip dress unit is not functioning properly, subsequent welds may be negatively affected. In current systems, the welding assembly is stopped at regular intervals to manually clean the tips and remove the debris, resulting in equipment downtime. Additionally, when a tip dress unit clog occurs, the equipment is stopped and manually cleaned, again resulting in downtime.
A need remains for a welding assembly capable of performing tip dressing in a cost effective and reliable manner.